Institutional discrimination is
discriminatory treatment of an individual or group of individuals by society or institutions, through unequal consideration of members of subordinate groups.
These unfair and indirect methods of discrimination are often embedded in an institution's policies, procedures, laws, and objectives.
The discrimination can be on grounds of gender, caste, race, ethnicity, religion, or socio-economic status.
In the United States
Members of minority groups such as populations of
African descent in the
U.S. are at a much higher risk of encountering these types of sociostructural disadvantage. Among the severe and long-lasting detrimental effects of institutionalized discrimination on affected populations are
increased suicide rates, suppressed attainment of wealth and decreased access to health care.
Institutional racism
Institutional racism (also known as systemic racism) is a form of
racism that is embedded as normal practice within
society or an organization. It can lead to such issues as discrimination in
criminal justice,
employment
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...
,
housing,
health care
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
,
political power, and
education, among other issues.
The term "institutional racism" was first coined in 1967 by
Stokely Carmichael and
Charles V. Hamilton
Charles Vernon Hamilton (born October 19, 1929) is a political scientist, civil rights leader, and the W. S. Sayre Professor Emeritus of Government and Political Science at Columbia University.
Biography
Hamilton was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. ...
in ''
Black Power: The Politics of Liberation''. Carmichael and Hamilton wrote that while individual racism is often identifiable because of its overt nature, institutional racism is less perceptible because of its "less overt, far more subtle" nature. Institutional racism "originates in the operation of established and respected forces in the society, and thus receives far less public condemnation than
ndividual racism.
See also
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Achievement gap
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Affirmative action
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Environmental racism
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Gentrification
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Harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral ...
*
Institutional abuse
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Redlining
In the United States, redlining is a discriminatory practice in which services (financial and otherwise) are withheld from potential customers who reside in neighborhoods classified as "hazardous" to investment; these neighborhoods have signif ...
*
Residential segregation
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Structural discrimination
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Structural violence
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Exclusionary zoning
References
Discrimination
Institutional abuse
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